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Mister Negative (Earth-616)
| CurrentAlias = Mister Negative | Aliases = Martin Li | Identity = Secret | Affiliation = As Mister Negative: Leader of the , the , the and Snakeheads, ally of Hammerhead and of the Spot As Martin Li: (founder) As his past-self: Snakeheads | Relatives = Yana Li (pretend wife) | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Mobile | Gender = Male | Height = 5'11" | Weight = 180 lbs | Eyes = Brown | Eyes2 = (white as Mr. Negative) | Hair = Black | Hair2 = (white as Mr. Negative) | UnusualSkinColour = Black | UnusualSkinColour2 = (as Mr. Negative) | UnusualFeatures = | CharRef = Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z hardcover Vol. 14 | Citizenship = Chinese | MaritalStatus = | Occupation = Crime Lord/Philanthropist, formerly smuggler | Education = | Origin = Darkforce-related mutate | PlaceOfBirth = | Creators = Dan Slott; Phil Jimenez | First = Free Comic Book Day Vol 2007 Spider-Man | HistoryText = Origins Mister Negative was a Snakehead, a smuggler of Chinese immigrants into the United States, and a crew member of the Golden Mountain. When the ship nearly crashed onto the New York shores, he stole the identity of one of the deceased Fujian slaves, Martin Li, who was heading to America to join his wife. "Martin Li" so came to his Snakehead gang in Flushings only to discover them dead, and was himself eventually captured by the Maggia crime family member, Silvermane, who forcibly delivered "Martin Li" to the criminal chemist Simon Marshall. Marshall was developing a new synthetic designer drug called "D-Lite" for the Maggia, testing it on runaway teens and illegal immigrants, often with fatal results, in order to create a cash crop for the crime family. Miraculously three kidnapped victims, Tyrone Johnson, Tandy Bowen and "Martin Li" survived the experimentation and escaped. Thanks to the drug and their unique biology, all three developed super-powers related to Darkforce and the Darkforce Dimension; transforming Tyrone and Tandy into Cloak and Dagger and "Li" into Mister Negative. The drug also created two distinct identities within the one man: the kind-hearted Martin Li persona and the villainous Mister Negative persona. The Mister Negative side dedicated himself to becoming Chinatown's Kingpin of Crime, intending to erase the Maggia for what it had done to him. Official version In order to survive and accomplish his goals, the former smuggler used Martin Li's identity and built himself a new existence. The public knows that the person known as Martin Li was an illegal Chinese immigrant from the Fujian province who attempted to travel to America to be with his wife. In China, he ran a factory, but because of his lack of resources to bribe the Communist Party, he couldn't develop his business and grew tired of his country. However, his mode of transportation, the Golden Mountain, was a slave ship operated by the Snakehead gang as a way to sell Fujian captives as overseas slaves. During a storm, the ship's crew evacuated, leaving the captives alone to make a break for the New York shores. Li was the only survivor and spent the following years building a large fortune and dedicating himself to helping those less fortunate. Using his fortune to bribe the two principal political parties, he wasn't bothered about his illegal immigrant status. Mr. Negative told his true origin as a Snakehead to The Hood during a battle in an attempt to explain the need for both good and evil. It appears that The Hood has never shared this information and the public is unaware of Martin Li or Mister Negative's true origin. Philanthropist/Crime Lord In the first steps of his rise, he took control of the White Dragons gang, and seemingly erased the Snakeheads gang from the Fujian to New York (but instead had them absorbed into his organization), and along the way saved Martin's wife, Yana, from them (she was abducted in order to pay for Martin's travel, thought he hadn't survived). Martin Li was a seemingly good willed philanthropist who ran a volunteer soup kitchen called F.E.A.S.T. (where May Parker volunteered) while he was also the Chinatown crime boss, Mister Negative. Despite being a crime lord, Li was a seemingly kind and generous man. The F.E.A.S.T. Project displayed healing powers for people of various illnesses, although the cause of this healing was unknown. Mister Negative first came into conflict with Spider-Man when he made a power play toward taking control of New York's criminal underworld by attempting to wipe out all existing members of the Karnelli and Maggia crime families using a DNA specific bioweapon called the "Devil's Breath". Martin Li later entered into politics when he endorsed Bill Hollister for mayor of New York City, putting him against Randall Crowne, who added him to a list of opponents (many of whom became targets of the villain Menace, who was actually Hollister's daughter, Lily). It also caused him to become the target of a smear campaign by Dexter Bennett, editor of the DB! and supporter of Randall Crowne. Mister Negative later recruited Hammerhead and offered to put his brain in a new robotic adamantium skeleton after having been shot point blank in the head by Underworld. Mister Negative eventually came across Eddie Brock and gave him a job at his soup kitchen. A touch from him caused his cancerous cells to completely disappear. Also, it allowed the remains of the Venom symbiote to fuse with Brock's white blood cells, causing him to become Anti-Venom during a conflict with Mac Gargan, the current Venom. After the F.E.A.S.T center was torn apart during the fight between the two, Li discovered from a group of sweatshop workers (from a shop owned by Crowne) that they were experimented on with drugs from Oscorp, although the ramifications of this have yet to be seen. After Menace was revealed to be Bill Hollister's daughter and he resigned as mayor, Li unsuccessfully ran in a special election, losing to J. Jonah Jameson. Mister Negative and his Inner Demons encountered and battled Anti-Venom. In the aftermath, Brock watched Negative turn into Li, becoming the first to be aware of his dual identity. War with Hood Mister Negative refused to submit to The Hood's rule during his conquest of New York's criminal underworld. During a meeting with Hood's henchman; White Dragon, Negative corrupted him and sent him to attack Hood's headquarters, where he was killed. In retaliation, Hood decided to attack and kill him. H.A.M.M.E.R. sealed Chinatown on Hood's behalf, getting the attention of Spider-Man who arrived to rescue Martin Li. However, he too was corrupted and sent into battle on Mister Negative's behalf. Spider-Man attacked and pummeled The Answer, Lightmaster, Scorcher, Speed Demon, Spot, Squid, and White Rabbit, the members of Hood's gang who were attacking Negative's headquarters and was then sent to kill Betty Brant, who was interviewing the real Martin Li's widow and was coming close to the truth. The Hood himself then confronted Negative at his Chinatown headquarters and battled him. During the battle, Mister Negative tried to corrupt Hood, but failed. Norman Osborn ended H.A.M.M.E.R.'s blockade of Chinatown when Hammerhead handed him papers implicating Oscorp in the aforementioned drug tests on immigrants. An irate Hood decided to kill Negative anyway, but he escaped. Later conversations that Norman Osborn had with his own darker side the Green Goblin revealed that he now had an alliance with Negative similar to the one with Hood. However, Spot slipped in and retrieved the evidence of Oscorp's tests, revealing that he was actually Mister Negative's mole in the Hood's gang under the promise that he will be cured once they get their revenge on the Maggia. Mister Negative viewed the Spot as a kindred spirit because they both have powers derived from the Darkforce dimension and both have vendettas against the Maggia. Some time later, Mister Negative corrupted Spider-Man's Aunt May when she walked in on him punishing an Inner Demon of his. Later Mister Negative and his operation are targeted by Anti-Venom and the new Wraith. They along with Spider-Man interrupt a heroin-smuggling operation, Wraith uses visual recognition software, linked to every television broadcast in New York, to publicly out Mister Negative as Martin Li. When the police approach, Negative and his men retreat. Li is later seen locked in a room by Negative's men, who wait for him to change back into their master. Spiral Following the events of Otto Octavious' time as Spider-Man, the Kingpin's Hand fraction and Shadowland's fall, Peter Parker's return and the rise and fall of the Goblin Nation, Mister Negative's criminal empire was once again one of the major organized crime powers in New York. He sought to meet with two other powers, the Maggia fraction lead by the Eel and the Goblin Nation remants lead by the Goblin Knight, to divide the criminal underground. While he and Urich were waiting for the Eel, they were surprised to see him crash in from a window. They were confronted by the Black Cat who demanded the Eel's part. Negative refused, saying that she only had reputation and it was destroyed by the Spider. She remained him that he was exposed by Spider-Man, Wraith and Anti-Venom and that everyone there was outed by Spider-Man but that she will be successful in what they failed, defeating him. Mister Negative next targeted the operations of other crimelords, tipping detective Teddy Rangel on the location of one of Tombstone's hideouts. The NYPD stormed the building and captured Tombstone with Spider-Man's help, but Rangel was hospitalized and Tombstone was set free by Anson Howell, a judge who got drugs from him. Negative went to Rangel's funeral and gave officer Yuri Watanabe photos linking Tombstone and the Judge taked from inside Tombstone's crew. However, the police chief refused to arrest him. Negative later watched as the Wraith left one of Tombstone's bases after she and Spider-Man went looking for more evidence. With Tombstone and Howell arrested, the Goblin King and Hammerhead agreed to have a match fight for Tombstone's turf and an informant told Negative. Negative informed Watanabe of the match and questioned if she was worry she was being played and she told him that everybody plays everybody. Negative watched as Spider-Man and the Wraith interupted the match, with only the Goblin King getting away while the others were caught. | Powers = Mister Negative can generate and control the Darkforce, manifesting it as the photographic negative of black electrical energy. He uses this unique form of Darkforce for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to: Limited Shapeshifting: He uses this energy to change from Martin Li into Mister Negative. His Mr. Negative persona possesses an undefined level of superhuman physical characteristics, likely due to the Darkforce energy. Mr. Negative displayed superhuman strength, sending Spider-Man flying through two buildings with a single blow. Mr. Negative also demonstrated superhuman reflexes during his battle with the Hood, dodging bullets or cutting them in half with his sword. Object Empowerment: Mr. Negative's touch can imbue objects (most often his dagger and other blades) with Darkforce, making them stronger and more durable. An empowered object take on the appearance of a photographic negative and glow with energy. Person Empowerment/Healing Touch: Mr. Negative's touch can imbue people with energy for various effects. Martin Li's touch has healing properties: he cured Eddie Brock's cancer and a subsequent touch charged the remnants of the Venom symbiote in Brock's body with the power to bond with Brock's leukocytes and create another symbiote, a hero named "Anti-Venom. (Since Martin Li's healing touch was the source of creating Anti-Venom's suit, Mister Negative's touch can reverse that ability which disables Anti-Venom's healing powers until Anti-Venom is free from Mister Negative's energy.) Aside from Brock, homeless people who've stayed at Martin Li's shelter have rapidly recovered from any illnesses or injuries they suffered from. It is possible that healing touch is Martin Li's opposite of Mr. Negative's corrupting touch. Person Empowerment/Corrupting Touch: Mr. Negative's touch has brainwashing and corrupting properties: his touch can change people's personalities and temperaments and make them serve his interests. A corrupted person's clothes change in appearance to photographic negatives, and all who are corrupted praise their new master with proclamations like "Mr. Negative was never born, so he is ever living," or "He is attached to nothing, thus he is one with all." Negative's touch inverts the morals and personalities of his victims; further his corruption is more effective the more good the affected person was prior to conversion: White Dragon, a villain himself, gained vastly increased stamina and endurance, but was still easily dispatched. (Interestingly, his clothes reverted to normal once he was killed.) Conversely, Spider-Man, a hero in every respect, was corrupted into a spiteful and angry villain, despising every value he held dear (even his Uncle Ben's memory) and was no longer above killing. However, individuals can reverse the corruption when confronted with intense emotional turmoil. Spider-Man is able to break the hold his dark side has over him when he is on the verge of killing Betty Brant, as he remembers the love he once had for her upon getting close. Aunt May after seeing Peter clearly suffering mentally feels guilty and undergoes an intense mind battle, breaking the corruption. * Mr. Negative's corrupting touch was ineffective against the Hood; Mr. Negative stated that this was because the Hood's soul belongs to a being even darker than he is. *'Inner Demons': Mr. Negative is often accompanied by several henchmen, known as his Inner Demons, wearing normal black-and-white business suits with Demon-style masks. They use high-tech electrified versions of swords, knuckles and various other oriental weaponry such as the gun staffs and Nunchaku. Mr. Negative has empowered them to be effectively immortal and possess enhanced strength, reflexes, and agility. They are able to regenerate from even the most lethal wounds within a matter of seconds; immediately recovering from impalement, gunshots to the head, and even getting torn apart or decapitated. It has been implied that the Inner Demons can be killed under the right circumstances: At one point, Anti-Venom claims to have killed some of them, possibly by suffocation, which he later notes to be an effective tactic against them. Mr. Negative also orders the murder of two Inner Demons who have failed him. | Abilities = Ability to swap between a monochromatic and regular appearance. Mister Negative appears to be a proficient hand-to-hand fighter, having the reflex to dodge bullets from the Hood and throw his dagger with pinpoint accuracy. | Strength = In his negative state , Mr. Negative has shown level superhuman strength, demonstrated by his ability to easily lift large chunks of debris and send Spider-Man flying through small buildings with a thrust of his palm. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = Mr. Negative also has access to advanced technology and secret laboratories, in which he's able to give his subject medical care far more advanced than the one available to the general public. | Transportation = Formerly the Golden Mountain | Weapons = | Notes = | Trivia =* It is possible that Li's Mister Negative persona is due to some sort of Dissociative Identity Disorder, and this theory is widely held among readers. He invited Eddie Brock into a room he considers his "Sanctuary", resembling an office done in Feng Shui, where he has a Go board on a table where every day he moves a white piece. He claims that some days he enters to find a black piece has been moved. It does not bother him, as he "has learned to enjoy the game." * Very few people are aware of the dual identity of Mister Negative, and his "good-self" himself isn't aware of it. Here the list of people who know more or less about it: ** Eddie Brock (Seen the transformation) ** Yana Li (Didn't recognize him as her husband) ** Betty Brandt (Interview Yana Li) * As Mister Negative, Li's appearance resembles that of a photographic negative. He also speaks in a reverse colored text bubble. | Marvel = | Wikipedia = Mister Negative | Links = }} Category:Priority Copy Edit Category:Darkforce Category:Dissociative identity disorder Category:Healers Category:Biological Manipulation Category:Superhuman Strength Category:Mind Control Category:Spider-Man Villains Category:Mobsters Category:Crimelords Category:Criminals Category:Superior Spider-Man Villains